Monday, March 12, 2012

Guest Post: Altogether Beautiful

You are in for a treat today with Kristina fromAltogether Beautiful. Her blog is one of the first ones I started reading when I started BabyBound and I have really loved watching her little Adoration grow over the last year. This post literally brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my skin. So if you're anything like me, grab a few tissues and enjoy...

Hello BabyBound readers! Eliza is taking a little break, loving on her sweet lil’ Cruze, so she invited me to do a guest post. I am Kristina from AltogetherBeautiful and I have a 20 month old daughter named Adoration Joy, the joy of my heart! Celebrating Cruze’s arrival made me feel all nostalgic about becoming a mother for the first time. It truly does change you at your very core forever.

As a new mother, I wrote myself a “if I could send my preggo self a letter from my future mama self, this is what I would say” letter.

Eliza, and any other new mama’s out there, be encouraged!And enjoy every bit of that newborn yumminess.

Dear Myself,

You will learn what love IS, because you will truly love this child more than yourself. Your heart will grow to hold this child in a deeper way than you have even imagined.You will give away so much of yourself, but you will barely notice this exchange, because you will receive so much more.

You were made for this. You were made to carry her, you were made to nurture her, you were made to love her more than the earth and sky. No one else is more capable. Be confident in this.

God did not send this child to you to teach the child how to be, God is sending this child to you to teach YOU how to be. Dependent.Trusting. Secure in love. Content. Joyful. Peaceful. This is your daughter. Let her teach you.

Be present...that is fully saturate yourself in every moment. It really does go by fast. She will never be one day old again, or 4 weeks, or 2 months. Enjoy every stage. If leaving the dishes dirty to enjoy the moment of that baby sleeping on your chest. Just do it. You won't regret it.

Her smiles will turn you into a morning person. You will JUST NOT BE ABLE to be grumpy when you see THAT face.

You will fall deeper in love with your husband the first time you see him as a father to your child. You will fall deeper in love EVERY time you see him with her. This will be more beneficial to your marriage than a hundred date nights alone.

Good thing, because it will be a lot harder to have date nights alone! But make time to be alone with each other anyways.

Eat that ice cream and DON'T feel guilty about that. You will lose that baby weight faster than you think. However, don't even THINK about trying on your pre-pregnancy jeans for awhile. Just. Don't. Do it.

It's true. Your body will never be the same again. You will get stretch marks. Things will never quite be how they were before. It's okay to have a good cry about it, grieve the passing of your former body...but you won't stay in that place. You will look at your daughter and know that it was all worth it, a thousand times over.

Things don't usually go the way they are planned. This is alright. They never usually do. You know this a little, but it will be confirmed again and again. Just let go of that plan, and follow the wind.

In general, don't be so hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself. Being kind to yourself is also being kind to your daughter. She will one day do as you do.

You will see all moms in a new light. You will view other moms with awe and respect. Go ahead and encourage other moms as much as you can.

You will think that nothing could possibly be more beautiful than your daughter....and it will be true.